64GB unit can now be had with mobile data.

Ever since Microsoft first announced its Surface hardware, onlookers have asked when the company will have a unit with integrated mobile broadband. That day has finally come: starting tomorrow, the 64GB Surface 2 will be available with AT&T-compatible LTE for a $130 premium over the regular 64GB unit.

The new variant looks virtually identical to the regular version, with the only difference being a fingernail-accessible microSIM slot on the left-hand side of the machine. The extra hardware means that the LTE version weighs a little more than the non-LTE version (though only by a few grams).

The Surface 2 with LTE doesn't come with a contract or data plan, though Paul Thurrott is reporting that AT&T will offer some kind of a pay-as-you-go deal. He also writes that a Vodafone version will be launched in Europe at some point.

In the post unveiling the LTE model, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Surface Panos Panay hints that there will be more announcements, promising that it will be "an exciting year for Surface" with "more on that later." This could be a reference to the previously rumored 8-inch Surface.

27 Reader Comments

Finally! I can now finally replace my iPad, as I pretty much use it on my commute to and from work on the bus. Having a cell connection is pretty much required for my situation--and no, I don't want to have to set up tethering every time I want to use it. That extra step is annoying.

Edit: If only it was the x64 device and not the ARM device. Ugh, branding >.<

Finally! I can now finally replace my iPad, as I pretty much use it on my commute to and from work on the bus. Having a cell connection is pretty much required for my situation--and no, I don't want to have to set up tethering every time I want to use it. That extra step is annoying.

Edit: If only it was the x64 device and not the ARM device. Ugh, branding >.<

You already can get LTE on the Surface Pro 2 if you want it through all it requires is a USB LTS device.

Finally! I can now finally replace my iPad, as I pretty much use it on my commute to and from work on the bus. Having a cell connection is pretty much required for my situation--and no, I don't want to have to set up tethering every time I want to use it. That extra step is annoying.

Why not use something like this, if a second/extra contract isn't the issue? It's specifically set up for permatether.

Don't be thrilled if you're not an AT&T customer. The device is likely locked to AT&T, and the device does NOT support verizons 700mhz band, per the FCC documentation. LTE bands 2, 4, 5, and 17 only. That equates to:

Finally. My wife has a Surface 2. We're not too inconvenienced by this as we can tether to our phones with AT&T's MobileShare plan. Still, I probably would have gone with this for her to minimize that hassle of getting online when away from WiFi.

(Re. tethering: it is rumored that in Windows Phone 8.1, Internet Sharing (tethering) will activate *on-demand* when accessed from a paired Windows tablet or laptop... If true, that will be go a long way toward simplifying use of a tethering setup.)

(Re. tethering: it is rumored that in Windows Phone 8.1, Internet Sharing (tethering) will activate *on-demand* when accessed from a paired Windows tablet or laptop... If true, that will be go a long way toward simplifying use of a tethering setup.)

This works already if you have Windows Phone 8 Update 3 as well as Windows 8.1 on your laptop or tablet. Just pair them via bluetooth and the phone's tethering option will display as a WiFi network. I've tried it a few times with a Nokia Lumia 925 and it seems to work pretty well.

So they put the LTE into the not-really-Windows Surface 2 which aren't moving significant units, but not the Surface Pro 2 which was the surprise blockbuster of Christmas 2013. I guess it makes sense if you're Microsoft and want to grow the installed base of RT, but I'd rather see them make the flagship even more flagshippier.

So they put the LTE into the not-really-Windows Surface 2 which aren't moving significant units, but not the Surface Pro 2 which was the surprise blockbuster of Christmas 2013. I guess it makes sense if you're Microsoft and want to grow the installed base of RT, but I'd rather see them make the flagship even more flagshippier.

I'd guess that they released the ARM version of Surface with LTE first because the LTE chip is already built into the Tegra chip that powers the tablet. They will have to put an LTE radio in the Intel powered Surface Pro.

Finally! I can now finally replace my iPad, as I pretty much use it on my commute to and from work on the bus. Having a cell connection is pretty much required for my situation--and no, I don't want to have to set up tethering every time I want to use it. That extra step is annoying.

Why not use something like this, if a second/extra contract isn't the issue? It's specifically set up for permatether.

Why not just tether to your phone?

In any case, none of those are "on the Surface". It'll be nice to have it built in to the device without any external connections.

I tried the Surface Pro 2 for a couple of weeks. I liked the hardware but the kickstand killed it. It's borderline useless and forced me return it. The addition of LTE won't change this fundamental design flaw.

So they put the LTE into the not-really-Windows Surface 2 which aren't moving significant units, but not the Surface Pro 2 which was the surprise blockbuster of Christmas 2013. I guess it makes sense if you're Microsoft and want to grow the installed base of RT, but I'd rather see them make the flagship even more flagshippier.

I'd guess that they released the ARM version of Surface with LTE first because the LTE chip is already built into the Tegra chip that powers the tablet. They will have to put an LTE radio in the Intel powered Surface Pro.

Uhm, no. There is no LTE chip built into the Tegra chip that's used on the Surface 2. Only Tegra 4i has LTE built in, but I've yet to see any devices using that SoC. Besides, the Tegra 4i is quite a bit slower than the Tegra 4.

(Re. tethering: it is rumored that in Windows Phone 8.1, Internet Sharing (tethering) will activate *on-demand* when accessed from a paired Windows tablet or laptop... If true, that will be go a long way toward simplifying use of a tethering setup.)

This works already if you have Windows Phone 8 Update 3 as well as Windows 8.1 on your laptop or tablet. Just pair them via bluetooth and the phone's tethering option will display as a WiFi network. I've tried it a few times with a Nokia Lumia 925 and it seems to work pretty well.

It's pretty awesome to do an entire tethering session without ever taking the phone from your pocket since if there's no devices, the phone's Internet Sharing turns off after a few minutes.

Connect>do work>Disconnect>phone turns tethering off automatically. All without leaving the pocket. Awesome.

(Re. tethering: it is rumored that in Windows Phone 8.1, Internet Sharing (tethering) will activate *on-demand* when accessed from a paired Windows tablet or laptop... If true, that will be go a long way toward simplifying use of a tethering setup.)

This works already if you have Windows Phone 8 Update 3 as well as Windows 8.1 on your laptop or tablet. Just pair them via bluetooth and the phone's tethering option will display as a WiFi network. I've tried it a few times with a Nokia Lumia 925 and it seems to work pretty well.

Thanks for this tip! Not sure how I missed this. Just got Lumia Black on my 1020 a month ago, so I'll try this soon.

So is AT&T willing to bend over for these manufacturers more than Verizon, or what? I'm a Verizon customer and I've been pretty happy with their service. For one thing, AT&T's coverage where I live is kind of spotty, but Verizon is consistent with LTE everywhere I go. For another, AT&T has screwed me every single time I've ever dealt with the company, including when I canceled my cell service last time, at which point they charged me two extra months of service even though I was off-contract.

Long story short, I'm not touching AT&T with a 10-foot pole, but it just seems to me that they do a much better job of getting manufacturers on board than Verizon does. The Nexus 5 works on AT&T. The iPhone had a head start of several years on AT&T, as did the iPad. Now Windows devices are getting connected to AT&T and Verizon is being left out. I know there are differences in network (which I personally think is BS; why this crap isn't standardized across carriers is beyond me), but even so, what's the deal here? I hate having to choose between having consistent service from a provider that has yet to screw me over but who doesn't operate with many devices, and having spotty coverage with a provider who has been abysmal in the past but that virtually every device works with.

Finally! I can now finally replace my iPad, as I pretty much use it on my commute to and from work on the bus. Having a cell connection is pretty much required for my situation--and no, I don't want to have to set up tethering every time I want to use it. That extra step is annoying.

Why not use something like this, if a second/extra contract isn't the issue? It's specifically set up for permatether.

Why not just tether to your phone?

Don't ask me. Talarian's the one who said "and no, I don't want to have to set up tethering every time I want to use it. That extra step is annoying.".

Sigh. The Surface - both the pro and the non-pro - is one fine engineered piece of hardware. But in light of Bay Trail and the really interesting tablet models in its wake: Why still WinRT? Why limit yourself artificially? Just release a Bay Trail Surface already!

I tried the Surface Pro 2 for a couple of weeks. I liked the hardware but the kickstand killed it. It's borderline useless and forced me return it. The addition of LTE won't change this fundamental design flaw.

What?

The kickstand is one of the best hardware features I've ever encountered.

I tried the Surface Pro 2 for a couple of weeks. I liked the hardware but the kickstand killed it. It's borderline useless and forced me return it. The addition of LTE won't change this fundamental design flaw.

Odd, since that's the feature most people love. What specifically bothered you, the lack of positions for the kickstand?

Sigh. The Surface - both the pro and the non-pro - is one fine engineered piece of hardware. But in light of Bay Trail and the really interesting tablet models in its wake: Why still WinRT? Why limit yourself artificially? Just release a Bay Trail Surface already!

Except performance is still very sub-par. As an owner of the Lenovo Miix 2 8, I can tell you it does not run Windows desktop applications at a performance level that most people are used to. My Surface 2 feels fairly fast and the overall experience is smooth and stutter free, the Lenovo Miix 2 8 (and the Dell Venue 11 bay trail I tried for a while) are the exact opposite.

The deal is AT&T is a GSM provider and Verizon is not. AT&T's network is much more compatible with the rest of the world, making it easier to not have a bunch of different versions of hardware.

Verizon (and Sprint) exists in its own little world.

I thought that LTE changed this. Now, the only difference is which band does LTE run in. Is that not correct? Does GSM still come into play with LTE?

LTE (the 4G radio technology), UMTS (3G / 3.5G / 3.75G), and GSM (2G / 2.5G) all fall under the 3GPP standardization body and/or the GSM Association and are successors to the original GSM standard.

The CDMA standards that Sprint and Verizon use in the US (and a small number of operators worldwide) are defined by a parallel international body called 3GPP2, and are successors to TIA/EIA American analog cellphone standards and later Qualcomm / American carrier proprietary standards.

So for a data-only device such as a tablet, the CDMA operators are becoming increasingly willing to support LTE-only (no 2G/3G fallback ability to their legacy networks) devices, but for phones, a CDMA operator generally requires proprietary backwards compatibility support for their network. Hope that helps.